A Tap on the Glass - Vol. 43 - Finding Passion

I was talking with Cindy at the CVTA office earlier this week and Cindy was remarking how much she appreciates the opportunity to work with our membership.

…and it gave me pause, for thought.

It’s a question that I’m betting you’ve paused and asked yourself on more than one occasion…and I’m not referring to recent discussions with your significant other….

Do you have passion?

Do you feel like something is missing in your life?

Are you finally waking up to the fact that you’ve been distracting yourself with the unnecessary?

Just how much time do you really have to spend on that Facebook account or let people know your every move on Twitter or Foursquare?

Working a 9-to-5 job just to scrape together a living isn’t the most fulfilling way to live. In fact, it’s more debilitating than energizing.

Taking the leap from 9-to-5 to what is your PASSION is hard, but if you really want fulfillment, it’s just what needs to be done. I’ve been subliminally making this suggestion to members of my own family for some time now…in hopes they’ll listen. Occasionally, I even listen to myself.

There are a lot of excuses you can use, and a lot of obstacles that will come in your way. Some will be valid. Some will be excuses.

What it all boils down to how determined you are to create the life of your dreams. To be happy.

This is not for everyone. In fact, it’s not for most people around you.

It demands that you embrace being uncomfortable and that you learn to deal with confusion.

When I went from being an on-air personality in ’87 to pursuing my passion, it wasn’t easy, but looking back now, it was worth it.

When you live an unconventional life, you grow much faster than someone who’s looking for security, comfort and convenience.

Overwhelm
If you really want to stay stuck—let “overwhelm” take control. When you’re looking for your passion, it’ll feel like you have an unlimited amount of options, but when you really prune them down and are honest with yourself, you’ll see that you’re left with just a handful.

It’s easy to look at everything you’re interested in and count them as options, but when you REALLY stop and listen to your heart, you’ll see what is true and what is not.

We’ve been brought up to believe a lot of things that are false. It might be a good idea to pause and observe what beliefs are running your life and ask yourself if they are beneficial for where you want to go. A lot of people have difficulty with this, because they’re justly afraid of what they’re going to see! Which brings me to….

Fear
When you’re about to dive into something new, you will be afraid, and your mind will try to stop you. Anything unpleasant should be avoided. That’s what we automatically believe, right?

You will often sabotage yourself because of underlying fears. Many have told me that they cannot decide what their passion is. I don’t have answers. No one can truly answer that question, but one. Look in the mirror.

Realize that choosing a passion and running with it isn’t going to define your life, it is just the beginning.

BUT, if you don’t take action, you won’t get anywhere. Focus on getting started instead of being perfect.

Missing Out
When you have a lot of options in front of you, the biggest fear of missing out is always present.

When I started, I knew my passions were self-improvement, natural health and financial freedom. Most importantly, was making a difference in SOMETHING.

I still have those fears, but I welcome it as part of the process of pursuing what I love.

While I was afraid of missing out, I also knew that if I didn’t pick one, I’d miss the train. You can either pick one, or miss out on them all. It is up to you.

The feeling of missing out and wanting to do everything at once is an illusion. You can’t do them all, and even if you tried, you’d probably fail horribly.

Again, this is just the beginning of your journey, so pick one passion and go.

Time
When I’ve asked friends and associates what their biggest obstacles were when trying to find their passion, time frequently made the top three.

In the end, it’s not that you don’t have enough time; it’s that you fail to prioritize.

If you’re watching TV, watching the news and doing stuff that doesn’t need to be done, you don’t really want to go after your passion.

If you really wanted to find your passion, you’d make time, wouldn’t you?

So what if you work all day and have a family? There are people who’ve been in much worse situations and made it work. Why not you?

Excuses
Excuses are irrelevant, because they are always manufactured by your mind.

There may be outside influences that certainly make them feel valid, but if you REALLY look at the situation the excuses you’re using are almost always self generated.

If you want to live the life you’ve always lived, go ahead and accept your excuses.

But if you’re ready for something else, you have to throw your excuses out the window.

It doesn’t matter what kind of excuses you have, because they can always be overcome. Maybe not today or tomorrow or this year or next. But they CAN be overcome, once you make up your mind to do and BE whatever it is you have a passion for.